MAY 23, 2016Nelson Institute faculty among Vilas professors and investigators honoredExtraordinary members of the University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty — including several faculty and affiliates of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, listed below — were honored May 11 with awards supported by the estate of professor, Senator and Regent William F. Vilas (1840-1908).

MAY 12, 2016Study: Legal wolf culling increases intolerance and illegal killingAllowing the culling or hunting of wolves is substantially more likely to increase poaching, or illegal killing, than to reduce it, suggests new research by UW-Madison Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Adrian Treves and Guillaume Chapron of the Grimsö Wildlife Research Station at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

MAY 9, 2016Blown away by Samsø, a Danish island powered by windAfter living in Denmark for three months, there are a few things that I’ve come to view as uniquely Danish. Open-faced sandwiches, better known as smorrebrød; hot dog carts (or pølsevogn); and a constant flow of bikes down every major street. However, there’s one characteristic of Denmark that isn’t quite as pleasant – the wind.

APRIL 29, 2016Town of Dunn award highlights UW role in local land ethicIt’s suitable that a talk with two of Wisconsin’s most prominent wetland biologists should occur in a wetland located just south of Madison. On a raised path through Waubesa Wetland, Joy Zedler, who will receive the Town of Dunn’s Stewardship Award on April 30, is talking along with Cal DeWitt, who won the inaugural award in 1991.

APRIL 22, 2016Two environmental studies students awarded Wisconsin Idea FellowshipsTwo undergraduate environmental studies students have been awarded 2016-17 Wisconsin Idea Fellowships. The fellowships are awarded annually to semester-long or year-long projects designed by an undergraduate student or group of students at UW-Madison, in collaboration with a community organization and a UW faculty or staff member, to solve issues identified by local or global communities.

APRIL 19, 2016Forensic botany course covers legal side of wood, pollen, contraband loggingWhether it’s a putative perpetrator with a peculiar pollen in his poncho, a possible plantation of proscribed opiates, or a shipment of lumber from a tree protected by international treaty, botanical identification can make or break a criminal case. This spring, UW–Madison students are getting a chance to expand their skills beyond the traditional academic realm in Botany 575: Forensic Botany.

APRIL 14, 2016Nelson Institute faculty, students contribute to better health through messaging in EcuadorSome communities in Ecuador face high incidences of water-borne illness because of contaminated water or poor hygiene and sanitation. It’s a multipronged problem calling for an interdisciplinary approach combining natural, medical and social sciences. Bret Shaw, a UW-Madison professor of life sciences communication and a faculty affiliate of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, last year helped implement a social science approach with funding from the UW-Madison Global Health Institute.